Can a blog reach a select market of influential VCs, entrepreneurs, and software industry trade writers? Are blogs an effective way to communicate with this audience? Can I write interesting material on a consistent basis? Those were the questions I sought to answer when I started The Next Big Thing blog one year ago this week.
Here is what I learned about blogging, and some statistics to set context. The short answer is YES, blogs are an effective communication medium to reach very specific audiences.
Big Break - My big break in blogging was Robert Scoble linking to me several times. Robert put my blog on the map early. I met Robert at Microsoft, quite by accident, one week after I started blogging. A link from Robert can drive a lot of traffic. Thank you Robert!
Big Break II - Cnet editor Charles Cooper read my blog post on my experiences at Napster and asked me to do a guest editorial on Cnet. This drove a lot of traffic as well and raised awareness of my blog within the software industry trade press. Thanks Coop!
Notable Commenters - Mark Cuban (Broadcast.com, Dallas Mavericks), Craig Newmark (craigslist), and Henry Blodgett (former Wall Street stock analyst) all commented on different blog posts.
Validation - I knew my blog was reaching the trade press and gaining lots of exposure when it started getting links from the big guys. Cnet, Fortune, Barrons, BusinessWeek, CNN Money, The Boston Globe, Seattle Post Intelligencer, The Guardian, and many more linked to various stories. These guys really validated the topics I was writing about. Thank you all.
Readers - Readers are what blogs are all about. Readers who participate in the conversation are what keeps me going. Thanks to all of you for reading, commenting, and linking. Here are some stats on readership and participation.
- Subscribers - 1,235 readers automatically get everything I write. For this reason I try to do the best job I can and only write when I have something meaningful to say.
- Readers - Weekly readers average around 6,975 visits per week.
- Highest Week - One recent week registered 14,295 readers. I wrote a lot that week.
- First year total - 215,701 pages read.
- Posts - I wrote 226 posts over the past year. Wow! It didn't seem like that much.
- Comments - 668 readers posted comments. About 3 comments for every post.
- Links - Technorati has tracked 1,420 links to The Next Big Thing
- Trackbacks - Other bloggers have left 343 trackbacks to their blogs.
Best Posts - My favorites are;
- "Why the next big thing usually doesn't come from market leaders",
- "Innovate or Imitate...Fame or Fortune"
- "Napster, the inside story and lessons for entrepreneurs"
- "The web is the great magnifier"
Post with most hits - YouTube porn spawns Porno Tube - And all along I thought people read my blog for insights and opinion on the software industry. Another reminder that adult content is very popular on the web.
It has been a very educational and rewarding year. I have truly enjoyed the conversation with all of you and look forward to another year. Thank you!
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Congrats on the one year anniversary.
As one of your non-celebrity regular readers, it's great to see that thoughtful content gets rewarded.
You were partly the inspiration for getting my blog kicked off too (my anniversary is coming in a couple of months as well).
Keep it coming!
Posted by: Dharmesh Shah | September 22, 2006 at 10:34 AM
Don - I started reading your blog last year at b-school and now I'm reading it as a Microsoft employee! I referred your blog to some of my professors who now read it too. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: kayvaan | September 22, 2006 at 11:43 AM
Keep on challenging us and yourself! Thanks Don.
Posted by: Lloyd D Budd | September 22, 2006 at 04:02 PM
As one of those 1,235 who get the Next Big Thing delivered, I try not to miss a post. You're a must-read, and you keep it enjoyable. Thanks for a great first year -- keep up the great work!
Posted by: John Powers | September 26, 2006 at 12:11 AM
Dharmesh, Kayvaan, Lloyd, and John, Thank you all for your comments and encouragement.
Don
Posted by: Don Dodge | September 26, 2006 at 08:12 AM